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Style
Downtown glam and grit
Setting
Delis and dive bars
Explore
Towering above the former tenement district of the Lower East Side, The Ludlow hotel may be a newcomer, but it feels right at home in one of New York’s historically hippest ‘hoods. Factory-style casement windows in every room, repurposed wood beams and a distressed-limestone fireplace in the lounge give this Sean MacPherson-styled spot its authentic feel.
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A bottle of red wine
A total of 175, including 10 suites.
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Rates exclude breakfast; an à la carte breakfast menu is served at in-house restaurant Dirty French.
There are several rooms that can accommodate guests with limited mobility.
Trellis-shaded courtyard garden, fitness centre, free WiFi. In rooms: flatscreen TV, minibar and Red Flower bath products.
The air just might be a bit sweeter and the views are definitely more sweeping from the terrace of the Loft King with Terrace on the 15th floor. The seventh floor Studio Queen room aren't anything to sniff at either. For more square footage, spread out in a Skybox Loft which also has a marble soaking tub set in front of a picture window.
Leave your specialty snacks at home. The mini-bars are stocked with tasty gluten-free and locally-made sweet and savoury treat options.
There’s no spa on site, but in-room treatments can be arranged to help alleviate urban fatigue following a day spent pounding the pavement.
Fido can bunk with you for $25 a night. A dog bowl will be provided, but you'll need to bring your own food and doggy bed. See more pet-friendly hotels in New York.
Welcome, but not catered to. An extra bed ($35 a night) or cot (free) can be added to the Ludlow Loft suites. With a separate living room and twin-size day-bed, these rooms offer families the most space.
The cosy corner tables are perfect for a romantic dinner à deux.
A very fashion-forward crowd gathers here, so the more avant garde the better.
The hotel’s edgy Gallic bistro, Dirty French, from the restaurant power-trio Major Food Group (of Torrisi Italian Specialties and Carbone fame) is a dining destination for hotel guests and locals, alike. In a lively room styled with vintage flea market finds and a painting of a French flag by Julian Schnabel, you'll feast on traditonal fare such as black bass en papillote, bouillabaisse noire and, of course, a flavourful steak au poivre.
Sip an expertly mixed Manhattan or a glass of wine out on the enclosed garden or get cosy in front of the roaring fireplace in the lounge. Rub elbows with LES gliterati at Dirty French as you throw back a Belmondo – a blend of tequila, pear, ginger and lemon juice – or one of the other intricate concoctions on the signature list.
The lobby bar is open 6pm to 2am. Dinner is served 5:30 to 11pm.
Feeling peckish? A simple room service menu with breakfast dishes, salads, burgers and sandwiches is available 24 hours
The Ludlow is a boutique hotel on the Lower East Side of New York. It's a downtown neighborhood that’s long been known for its effortless cool and its magnetic draw for the next-big-thing in dining, shopping and the arts.
JFK International Airport services most international and west coast arrivals and departures, and is 12 miles away. Several domestic airlines fly into LaGuardia Airport, just 10 miles away. Although close, travel times to and from both airports vary greatly due to traffic and time of day.
Major Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Amtrak train routes (www.amtrak.com) run out of Penn Station, just 20 minutes away.
With a wealth of taxis to hail and several subway stops conveniently nearby, a car is not necessary. However, for those willing to brave manic New York traffic, there are several public parking garages within a few blocks' walk.
Pick out provisions for a picnic or grab a freshly squeezed juice from the stalls at the Essex Street Market. Study the Lower East Side’s rich immigrant history on foot during a guided tour at the Tenement Museum on Orchard Street. Artist talks, film showcases and provocative collections keep the New Museum, on Bowery, packed with patrons. Check out more than 30 Lower East Side galleries open late on the third Thursday of the month including Anastasia Photo on Orchard Street, On Stellar Rays on Rivington Street, James Fuentes on Delancey and the Woodward Gallery on Eldridge Street. Gents, stop into Freemans Sporting Club for some preppy threads and a proper shave.
Katz’s Delicatessen at 205 East Houston Street is one of New York’s most iconic eateries and it’s conveniently located just across the street. Bring your appetite and opt for the pastrami or corned beef – we dare you to eat one of the massive sandwiches all on your own. La Esquina is a triple threat on Kenmare Street with a taqueria, brasserie and secret subterranean nightclub. Just look for an out-of-place bouncer holding a clipboard by the kitchen entrance and you'll know you're in the right place. You won’t be expecting the warm and welcoming under-the-radar eatery Freeman’s at the end of fairy-lit Freeman’s Alley off Rivington Street. Even though they take walk-ins, you may be in for a long wait if you’re rolling with a posse, so make a reservation for groups of six or larger. Dudley's is a polished all-day diner with almost-impossible-to-pick-from menus and delightfully named Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop on Rivington delivers on mammoth eats.
For theatrical drinks, step right up for the burlesque shenanigans at the Box. Or see who's taking the stage at the Bowery Ballroom. The barkeeps at speakeasy Attaboy on Eldridge Street are open to suggestions, so go nuts.
On the hip Lower East Side of Manhattan, discretely situated on the street of the same name, you’ll find the Ludlow, quiet cathedral of cool. Iconic and eye catching, but with an old-school air shoehorned snugly into its 20 storeys, the former factory has retained the external signs of its industrial heritage while exuding a subtle sense of eclecticism.
Like one of its intuitively conceived cocktails, the Ludlow has been perfectly blended into its neighbouring milieu of organic modernism, fashionista chic and gritty creativity. Sandwiched between Little Italy and the East Village, just a 10-minute saunter from the subway, it thrives among the jostle of bars, bakeries and boutiques.
On arrival, Mrs. Smith and I are serenely ushered across the threshold. Two genially deferential gents, for whom nothing seems too much trouble, glide alongside, bidding us welcome into a library-quiet atrium then entrusting us to reception staff (our bags seem to have floated off in the direction of our room). Our surroundings are packed with reassuring nods toward a gentleman’s club – mosaic floors, outsized chandeliers, a courtyard garden, vaulted ceilings, oak panels, leather armchairs, chesterfields toasting by an open fire…
Blessed to have landed a Skybox Loft room, we have extraordinary floor-to-ceiling, wrap-around views of bridges and skylines – at one side of the four-poster, the brave can step into the scene themselves, via a vertigo-inducing balcony. The living room and bathing suite command 270-degree views of Manhattan – our windows’ top trump is One World Trade Centre, with glimpses of the East River across to Brooklyn.
We’re tempted to provide a celebratory soundtrack to our arrival in the company of other great monuments, and to test the privacy of our haven of intimacy: shower-curtain shunned and window wide, Mr Smith booms Sinatra, adding his own liberty to the New York skyline. And what a boudoir of luxury it is, when your immediate surroundings are a monsoon shower over a marble bath, brass-gold taps, antique mirrors, Moroccan rose-scented tinctures and potions, Maison Martin Margiela bathrobes, unexpected tuck-box treasures of spirits and snacks, and Egyptian cottons on a Balinese bed.
Eventually, meandering down to the extensive cocktail bar, which opens out onto a candle-lit courtyard, feels like the right kind of early evening pre-prandial stroll. (Try the Grand Prix – Japanese whisky, coconut vermouth and ras el hanout spices with aromatic bitters.) Advertised after dark in voyeuristic pink neon, the Ludlow's spot-the celeb, spend-all-you-dare restaurant Dirty French is decadently – yet somehow understatedly – epicurean. Book in advance. The particularly noteworthy Gallic-Moroccan delights not to miss are the lamb carpaccio, millefeuille of mushroom and chicken with crepes; feel free to pass on the surprisingly unsubtle almond liver and sparrow breath ice-cream. Throughout the show, our waitress amusingly thesps and gesticulates her effortless lines with nonchalant near-Broadway perfection.
(That sublime in-house cuisine – coupled with dangerous proximity to the gustatory and celebratory Katz delicatessen, where Harry met Sally – necessitates half-hearted trips to the Ludlow's rooftop gym. But once safely back down to earth, you are a comfortable ten-second dash right back across the road to a hubbub-infused sauce-laden pastrami.)
To this Englishman in New York, Ludlow is no longer just a favourite town in England famed for its restoratively slow pace and stellar gastronomy. The Ludlow is now an American home from home – a place of moments among the monuments, and delicacy among the delis.
Price per night from $744.73
